Is it because of getting older that I've got more interested in family history?
Years ago when all elderly relatives were still around to question I never even thought about asking what they knew about their families.
After my Mum died in 1999 my sister and Dad spent months tracking down his family tree. It helped him to get through after being a carer for Mum for many years. I knew they went back a long way on his maternal side of the family and I'm the keeper of the family bible with lots of details of that part of the family too but I'd not realised they'd gone back to the early 1800's on the paternal side as well.
My maiden surname is a fairly unusual name and the first time I walked through the churchyard over the road I spotted some graves with the surname and knew they were some sort of relation.
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| How the graves looked last July, the grass was cut in the autumn |
I wrote about it HERE . The family have always been in Suffolk and tended to use the same forenames ...variations on George, Edward, Edwin and Edgar but my sister was able to tell me they were
our great, great, grandfather and grandmother. She brought over a copy
of the family tree of that bit of our family.
My Grandad, also a George was born only a few months before this George died so wouldn't have known his Grandfather.
I wondered whereabouts in the village they'd lived so had a look on Ancestry website and from a census I found he was a farm labourer, living in a Tytes Lane, but there's no lane of that name in the village now. On the same page of the census is Hall Farm. It would seem likely that any farm cottages would have been somewhere in the region of the Hall. Which now looks like this........
Hall Farm stands on it's own along a small road out of the village, no cottages anywhere around. I even looked on old Suffolk maps of the village, with no luck.
There is a lady in the village who goes to WI and over 60's and she's nearly 90 and has lived in the village all her life. Next time I see her I'll ask if she has any memories of a Tytes Lane. Tyte is also a local Suffolk surname so it's possible the lane was called that locally when a family of that name lived there and is now called something else.
What a happy co-incidence that I've come to live in the village where great, great grandparents lived so many years ago.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
It was obviously meant to be.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right!
DeleteAh, you have been drawn home. Wish I could have gotten down to my Devon roots - I could have called several villages very much home there in the South Hams, although Hennock/BoveyTracey/Moretonhampstead is where we were trying to get. It helps to have an unusual surname to pursue. You could try the 1841 Tythe Map, that might name Tytes Lane. Or else the earliest census of the same date might throw up Tytes living in the village.
ReplyDeleteI shall have to do more investigation!
DeleteBeing born in Yorkshire it seems that I have done the reverse journey of my paternal ancestors by ending up in Devon. A fascinating hobby.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides of my parent's families seem to have been in Suffolk for several generations - no one ventured far!
DeleteHow nice that you have ended up in what is most likely your family's original dwelling place. I do hope the elderly lady can help you fill in some pieces of your history.
ReplyDeleteMe I have no interest in tracing any relatives ... lost, distant or otherwise. If they come out of the woodwork I will firmly shove them back in and lock the door. When my Dad researched the family tree about 20 years ago and found distant relatives that they then went and visited and started inviting to family functions, I just thought 'oh bloody hell more relatives that I don't want to mix with' ... yep, I'm a grumpy cow sometimes ;-)
The only person I would love to talk to again in the family is my paternal Nana, she was born in 1898 and when I was younger I just didn't think to ask her the things I would love to know now.
I'm not likely to come across anyone living that I dont know as I know where cousins are and roughly second cousins too. So no invitations will be going out!
DeleteIt's true we do become more interested in family history as get older. I started when I was about 50, and there have been periods when I've spent excessive amounts of time on it. But are my kids interested? To way.
ReplyDeleteMy sister said it's easy to spend hours in the record office doing research - not sure I'm That keen
DeleteSuch an interesting post.
ReplyDeleteBefore I moved I use to go to the Kew Archives (Then I went onto Kew Gardens) and spent many an hour working on my family tree, it's frustrating sometimes by well worth doing.
My fathers name was George also my great granddad, grandfather and my brother.
Hazel 🌈🌈
I don't think I want to do too much extended family research but nice to know about direct family
DeleteIsn't that amazing! I do hope you find out more.
ReplyDelete(and I have filled up with petrol, no problems, thank goodness)
xx
It seems to be mostly in Suffolk that there is a shortage - due to protesters at Thurrock depot - maybe all Suffolk fuel comes from there
DeleteI really appreciated the warning and made sure I filled up before coming up.
DeleteYou could very well be right about the cause and, of course, once there is a rumour of a shortage, there most certainly will be one.
xx
Just love family history...makes me all fuzzy inside! x
ReplyDeleteNice to know where people lived and worked, don't think I'm going to spend too much time on it
DeleteOh I can't wait to hear what you find out!
ReplyDeleteMy Mum's ancestors are the ones we know less about although they were all local to Suffolk too
DeleteI spent years and many miles of travel researching my maternal family lineage by seeing actual courthouse documents. Then I bought a year subscription to Ancestry.com and within the first hour found everything I had been looking for. I have since traced that lineage back to 1623 here in America, all for a few dollars a year. It was money well spent and has brought me many hours of enjoyment.
ReplyDelete1623! thats incredible
DeleteWhat a coincidence that you ended up where your family started! How nice!
ReplyDeleteNeed to go back further to find out where they were before here
DeleteI love family history and have scouted many of my ancestors' locations. I was especially excited when I was in England and found where my second great grandmother was born in London. Older cities like that change -- and don't change! You might want to try to find online maps from whatever period that was for the town or region. I've had luck with that here, as streets are sometimes renamed. I just love digging through census records and all the other info available there and on familysearch.org, which has a huge free database. Right now I'm trying to figure out the best way to print my book where I took my mom's side of the family from the 1600s in Germany (and 1800s in England) and get it printed for the family. Once you go down the rabbit hole, it's hard to stop! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds as if you've had lots of fun with your searches and back to 1600 Germany is amazing!
DeleteWhat a wonderful coincidence. Keep us posted on what else you discover.
ReplyDeleteI might keep looking
DeleteI always enjoy your posts. I love looking into my family history and have discovered that my great grandmother and her family came down to London from Stradbroke in Suffolk.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun finding out how people have moved around
DeleteIrony of where you are now living...love this type of blog...
ReplyDeleteFun finding out
DeleteA lot of my family come from Suffolk. There are some 18th century graves of ours in Fressingfield. Arilx
ReplyDeleteI seem to be all Suffolk all sides of the family for 200 years!
DeleteI love family history and find researching it fascinating. I also use Ancestry as it is quite helpful in learning about our past family. It's wonderful that you have come to settle in the same town of your ancestors! It could make it easier for you to learn more about your family. It will be interesting to see what you can learn from the lady at the WI! My brother has traced part of our family back to the 1600s. Some of them came to our country from England in the late 1700s. It makes me want to know more personal things about these ancient relatives but that is likely not possible! Enjoy your research Sue!
ReplyDeleteDisappearing down a rabbit hole online - may take sometime!
DeleteThat's awesome. So glad you have found a family connection in the very village you are living in :)
ReplyDeleteA good coincidence
DeleteWhen I put together a written history of my township I realized that every single road in the township had a first name! Every road carried the name of the farm it held.
ReplyDeleteI think that happens a lot here too
DeleteIt seems, you were destined to live in Suffolk. I hope your WI friend has some knowledge of Tytes Lane. It is a nice feeling to visit property where ancestors once lived.
ReplyDeleteI've been here all my life and so have all my ancestors - we didn't move far-
DeleteI did a little tracing back for Mum one year. We are all from Suffolk too. The name that seemed to thread through family lines for us was Rachel. My Nana's name was Rachel and I found several Rachel's in the line. Funny, as I named my daughter after my Nana, not knowing about the rest of them. The strangest thing I found (not really that bad I suppose) was that in the past a sister married her dead sister's husband. I um-ed and ah-ed about telling Mum and when I did she just said 'Oh I know that'. Apparently the sister died leaving small children and, as the other sister was unmarried, she married her sister's husband so she could take care of the children.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I found is that I could spend hours and hours doing genealogy. Time flew by. I suppose that's why Aunt Jane ended up not doing anything else!
My Mum married her first husband's (my dad)older brother - my stepdad/uncle! after my dad was killed in a road accident.
ReplyDelete